military advisers, up to 300, to assess how we can best train, advise and support iraqi security forces going forward. >> right now on "andrea mitchell reports," back to iraq. the president outlines his counterterrorism strategy in iraq to help fend off the isis militant insurgency. but can the mission succeed with a crisis of confidence in iraq's leadership? >> it's not the place for the united states to choose iraq's leaders. it is clear, though, that only leaders that can govern with an inclusive agenda are going to be able to truly bring the iraqi people together and help them through this crisis. meanwhile, the fierce fighting continues for control north of baghdad again today. we'll get the latest on the ground from nbc's richard engel as the u.s. military personnel begin to arrive. >> our military personnel who are going to be looking for targets. these are hammers looking for nails. and an american hero. meet the young medal of honor

recipient inspiring generations. >> i've been given a second chance to do good things and enjoy the life, the second chance that i've been blessed with. good friday. i'm peter alexander in washington filling in for andrea mitchell. president obama announced his strategy to deal with the violence and instability that's erupted in iraq. up to 300 military advisers will be working alongside iraqi forces to hold off isis militants. as the battle for control rages on in that country. joining us now is nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel in baghdad right now. richard, can you give us a better chance of where things stand right now as people have had a little better chance to sort of assess what they heard from president obama in that

city. >> today is, obviously, the day of friday prayers here. and we visited a mosque and at this mosque, there was a political sermon, in addition to a religious ceremony. there was plenty of talk about the violence plaguing this country. and people there were preparing for war. they were getting ready to get -- this is a shiite mosque. they were signing up for the army. they were shouting and singing shiite religious songs. when we asked people there what they thought about the american involvement, they said we don't need it. we have the support of our faith. we have the support of god. they have the support of their martyrs. so the u.s. is entering into a fight or re-entering in a fight that once again, it might not fully understand. the dynamics here have become far more sectarian than they

were when u.s. troops left this country 2 1/2 years ago. the government is considerably weaker. the armed forces are considerably more divided along sectarian lines. when we go out and see soldiers here, they are often wearing religious patches, shiite patches on their flak jackets, on their u.s.-issued flak jackets. so the army that the u.s. is coming to advise and assist is not necessarily the same army that the u.s. trained and equipped a few years ago. it could be quite a shock for those trainers who are already starting to show up now as they try and lead the iraqis or guide the iraqis in a fight against sunni extremists. >> and, richard, as far as the criticism of the prime minister, nuri al maliki. for us this seems like a far away place. for you it's effectively domestic politics. i want to get a sense of what you are hearing from leaders

within that community, what they are saying today in terms of their willingness to even consider the sort of reformation of a new unity government. >> well, i guess i have been reporting here a long time. this is now my domestic politics. that's frightening to think about. i remember when we were here together years and years ago. i just stayed behind, i guess. but in terms of the formation of the new government, a new government has to be formed here in any case. they had elections two months ago. the elections have now been ratified, certified by the legal system here. what is supposed to happen is you're supposed to have a meeting of parliament. this is a parliamentary system. then during that convening of the parliament, they will choose prime minister and then the different ministers that would form a government. it was expected and certainly maliki expected that he, being the head of the largest political party, would become the prime minister again for a

third term. now, however, there are many people, even within his own party and certainly from outside his party, who are saying we have to put together a new government anyway. perhaps we can do it without maliki at the top. maliki, however, doesn't want to give up his power so there are a lot of closed door negotiations. but for the first time in iraq, we are hearing a lot of -- for the first time in iraq recently, we are hearing a lot of very open criticism of maliki, including from members of his own alliance. >> richard engel reporting from baghdad, iraq. be safe, richard. nice to visit with you. thank you. senator ron johnson is a member of the foreign relations committee and has been briefed on the situation in iraq. he is joining us now from capitol hill. senator johnson, we appreciate your time. thanks for being with us. >> well, peter, how are you doing? >> i want to get a sense from you. tell us about the briefings you've had on this issue. if you are satisfied with what you've heard from the president and this administration so far in terms of the solution that

they believe is the way forward, at least at this point. >> quite honestly, the briefing hasn't revealed much more than anybody -- any other americans in the press. that's generally the case with the secure briefings. the cynic in me thinks that sometimes the white house does these things so the senators can't really talk about what we hear. but, peter, this is a tragedy that never had to happen. president obama came into office. iraq was largely stable. he should recognize his job was to maintain that stability and increase it and what we should have done is left behind a stabilizing force that could have provided influence, pretty well -- a real coalition government and now humpty-dumpty is broken. we'll see if we can put it together. >> you said the president should have left behind residual forces. >> the president said that was a decision by the iraqis -- >> this is -- this president was so detached, he had a desire to

withdraw from the world, to withdraw from iraq. he didn't understand the strategic imperative of making sure we had a stabilizing force so we could take advantage of an historic opportunity to have shia, sunni and kurd work together in a coalition government for shared prosperity. can you imagine what a phenomenal example that would have set for the middle east and the rest of the world? this president decided to bug out, leave all influence that -- remove all influence of america. it's just been a real tragedy. >> senator, do you finishing the president had left residual forces that this situation wouldn't exist, that isis would not have been able to find any stronghold within that country, where there was already so much lawlessness, even if you leave behind american forces? >> of course, one of the reasons isis has shown and grown and gained so much strength is because this president was detached from the events from syria as well. so our president, in his policies, have been one of apologizing for america and becoming totally detached and withdrawn from the world. it's not working out very well

quite honestly. >> i want to ask you a question on the topic of benghazi. you were the person who was asking hillary clinton that question when she came up with the answer many associate with the debate over this topic. she said what difference at this point does it make? specifically referring to questions about what she may know about whether this was a protest that had taken place or whether this was some sort of spontaneous moment it happened there. we heard from president obama saying the u.s. has now taken into custody abu kattala, one of the members believed to have been involved behind that deadly attack that night where four americans, including the u.s. ambassador were killed. your satisfied by what you have now seen, that this administration, the military officials have been doing to try to clean up the mess that was left behind after that awful disaster? >> no, a long way from being satisfied. i appreciate the fact we captured one of the terrorists. and we know who others are. we've captured one. we ought to transfer them to guantanamo so we can detain and

get intelligence out of this individual, every ounce of intelligence. so we're starting to bring one person to justice. what about holding people accountable in the state department. how about holding the secretary of state accountable for her dereliction of duty, not only -- not honoring the request for additional security but ramping down security which put those lives at risk, and i think cost four americans their lives. >> senator johnson, we appreciate your time. thanks for spend something of it with us. have a good rest of your friday. >> have a good day. for more on the u.s. military and counterterrorism efforts in iraq, joining us from seattle isria tired four-star general and msnbc analyst barry mccaffrey. michael, clearly i want to ask you specifically about these up to 300 military advisers that are going to be going to iraq. some of whom are already in that region and will likely arrive in that country in the next couple of days. what kind of intelligence can we expect they'll be able to gather

and then provide to iraqi officers there? >> they are mostly going to be leveraging the national resources the u.s. have. a lot of that will be from overhead imagery and unmanned drones. they will pass that to the iraqis and, in turn, they'll be getting intelligence from the iraqis sharing that back with the united states. so they can complete more better targeting packages, better strategies for the iraqis. >> following up on that, should u.s. officials, military officials, be comfortable, trust providing this raw intelligence to iraqi security forces, given the fact they are largely infiltrated by some people that may have divisions that may not support the army for which they are fighting. >> that's why you have the special operations guys in iraq on the ground. even as the military is changed, these are 300 who have probably all been to iraq before. know who they are sharing the intelligence with and make sure it's used in an appropriate way. >> general mccaffrey, what

concerns do you have about a small number of u.s. forces work with the isis. since they'll be sent out in a brigade level across that country. >> i think the president did a remarkable job yesterday in his presentation going forward. he's under intense political domestic pressure. we cannot influence an enduring ethnic civil war inside iraq. and so sending 300 special ops guys will give us a better picture of what's going on on the ground. he threatened potential air strikes. i hope don't do that. and if we're going to use air power, we have to use air power in a significant manner. that would mean going after isis inside iraq and inside syria. so probably important for us to not re-engage in the iraqi civil

war. the president has us in a modest position trying to respond to his domestic critics. >> general mccaffrey, how effect do ive do you think the u.s. can be without getting involved in a more military-type manner? >> we could be effective using military power. if the administration had spelled out the political purpose they are trying to achieve. do we actually want to support the iraqi army, a shia ethnic force, a repressive force in getting isis and sunni nationalist units? if we want to do that, the answer is probably a round number of 300 and maybe 3,000 or 4,000. but in no case, i think what we're doing is picking from menus of modest military options instead of the hard work of saying, what are we actually trying to achieve and then deciding what military covert action, economic power, political influence we need to

do to achieve our results. nobody wants to face up to that. there's really no vital national security interest at stake on the ground in iraq. there's a long-term interest, but not one that we could get support from the american people. >> and for you, michael, specifically about the issue of iran. all of a sudden, we have the u.s. and iran who in some ways share a desire to see a stronger government there. iran clearly would like to prop up maliki. we'd like to see a more unified government there. what role will they play and what will our intersection be with them? >> we won't be work with them tactically or on a military front but i think politically. and iran plays a key role in pressuring the shia government not to support maliki and to be more inclusive with sunnis. once the iranians do that and you have grand ayatollah sistani, not supporting maliki, you at least have an opportunity for a more inclusive government. and u.s. military support, in my

view, provides some safety so we can get to that political agreement and the government of iraq can be more inclusive and not be persecuting sunnis in the country. >> already from the grand ayatollah sistani, he's called for the creation of a new effective government and he's increasing that pressure. michael leiter, general barry mccaffrey. have a great weekend. appreciate your time. to other news making headlines. record rainfall in minnesota caution this mudslide. the ground give wag beneath a hospital over night. a 100-yard section of the hill spilled on to the road and fell into the river ultimately directly under the university of minnesota medical center. officials say no patients were in danger. the hospital building is now safe. as many as 82 scientists we've also learned working in three separate government labs may have been exposed to dangerous live anthrax bacteria. another headline making news today. the cdc says the exposure appears to be an accident and so far no one has shown any

symptoms. exposed employees were put on antibiotics as a precaution. the cdc is now working with the fbi looking into this incident. and the obama administration today will announce an expansion of rights for same-sex married couples following the supreme court's decision last year striking down the defense of marriage act. under the wide ranging new guidelines, most federal agencies will treat all married couples the same, even if they live in a state that does not recognize gay marriage. she keeps you on your toes.

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it strikes me that the time we're in right now, we have a greater need for people to be telling each other the truth than we've had in almost any time in our country's history.

and the reason for that is because the challenges that we face are big but solvable. they are solvable if we tell each other the truth. >> it's a big day for republican lawmakers here in washington. while house republicans are venting their frustrations with the irs over the stunning loss of lois lerner's e-mails, some of the gop's prominent contenders, past and present, are hitting the faith & freedom conference stage through today and ultimately the weekend. joining me for our daily fix is chris cillizza, managing editor of post politics.com. nbc capitol hill correspondent luke russert and perry bacon jr. who is live at the faith & freedom conference. perry, give us a lay of the land there today. who has been impressing the crowd, what buzz you are hearing there especially about this fall 2014 and ultimately 2016. >> the favorite candidate was the person who spoke yesterday, ted cruz. had a very large applause when

he spoke. he and rubio. today has been rand paul who spoke a lot about his view being pro life. we had chris christie now talking about pro-life issues and being bipartisan. the reputation he has as well. the key thing about this conference, a lot of republicans went to the mitt romney conference last week in utah. that was about tactics. how do we beat hillary clinton. how do we look forward. this is about how conservative i can be. a lot of bashing obama and a lot of people emphasizing how much they don't like obamacare, how pro life they are. that's what you are seeing from all the candidates today. paul, christie as well. >> perry bacon perfecting his golf voice for future opportunities with chris christie speaking behind him. >> possibly the biggest 2016 contender. rand paul has a new op ed in "the wall street journal" saying we can't make the same mistakes in iraq. places blame on both the obama and bush administrations. are his views broad enough, too

peel to a majority of gop primary voters? >> certainly on domestic policy they are, peter. i think on domestic policy, shrinking the federal government, his sort of distrust of being institutions is right in line with the republican party. the question is foreign policy. and that's a place he did talk about it today at the faith & freedom conference. talked a little bit about not being the world's policeman. not going in everywhere. i don't know is the answer. the fundamental question that's at the heart of the rand paul 2016 presidential campaign. we know he has a coalition unlike any other coalition that any other candidate has. the question is how big that coalition is and whether he can grow it. if it winds up coming down to rand paul versus a more establishment type, marco rubio or jeb bush, can he beat that person or not. >> luke, you've been covering this. paul ryan stayed out of the running this week but was at the irs hearing this week. i want to hear one of the more

testy exchanges with sandra levin. >> being forth coming which we knew for one day -- >> being forthsomething to say -- >> investigators, congress who is investigating -- >> let him answer the question. >> i didn't ask him a question -- >> yes, you did. >> gentlemen -- the gentlemen -- >> i control the time. >> i realize that disrupting a hearing sort of -- >> no come on. >> the gentleman from wisconsin -- >> i am not yielding time. i control the time. >> here's what being forthcoming is. >> regular order. >> remains a heated issue. the irs topic. ryan scheduled to speak at the conference today. what is his political plan short and long-term as you keep eyes on him and the party spotlight. >> he would probably tell you he got his irish in during a hearing with the irs commissioner today about the lost hard drive of lois lerner. a contentious hearing back and forth. paul ryan flexing a little of

the red meat muscle for the republican base. he's also someone who has investigated this closely. the future of paul ryan is the question everyone has. speaker boehner tried to persuade boehner to consider running for majority leader. paul ryan is a favorite of john boehner and john boehner, part of him has also thought of a handoff to the speakership would be an easy thick to do. he wants to be chairman of the house, ways and means committee. he's in his early 40s. the way he sees it, he'll be chairman of this committee. sit back a little bit. let the battle for the party play out in 2016 and maybe come back in 2020 or 2024. i wouldn't be surprised if he ran in 2016. i think he's very wonky and he'd rather have a chance at the gavel at the house, ways and means committee. >> a lot of people wrote off rick santorum, too. he also is at today's conference. i want to listen quickly to some

of his speech and get some of your thoughts about his future. >> we're trying to go -- which way are we going to go? how are we going to define ourselves? you look at the polls. they don't like any of us. they don't like republicans or democrats. they know democrats are just promising the world and stealing their money. and leading them down to a culture of decay. but they don't think we care about them, why? because we never talk about it. ladies and gentlemen, it's time to start talking to america again. >> so doesn't seem like he's showing a away from running again. how does he distinguish himself from this new crop of republican presidential hopefuls. >> santorum is really interesting. his reputation when he was in d.c. in the senate was sort of the social conservative warrior. that he fought on things like abortion and gay marriage. really the voice for those things. he started the 2012 presidential race that way, but if you look at how he ended it up in michigan being a good way.

lost to mitt romney narrowly. wound up as a populist. the blue collar republican. reagan republicanism. that sort of space. that is actually space that has real power in a republican primary. i think unfortunately for rick santorum, other people are going to come into this race and take the sort of spot he carved out as the populist. rand paul will try to do that. ted cruz will try to do that. they'll all try to get a piece of it. so i think santorum actually deserves more credit than he probably gets in that he wound up by the end of that race finding a real niche and a voice that resonated within the republican party. >> luke, i want to wrap up with a new number two for house republicans. he's going to wrap up the early session in today's conference. what is his message as the new majority leader and what differences should we be keeping our eyes out from from him versus eric cantor? >> he's a lot more affable and gregarious than cantor. he does not like to be alone.

he always likes to have people to have lunch with. likes to work the room, pound the pavement. he'll be someone -- >> he's a whip. >> yeah. he's going to have a very inclusive message when he moves forward. that being said, though, peter, when he was whip, he had great difficulty getting forward some of the more controversial votes. the biggest change in leadership style will be his relationship with the new whip. steve scolese. if they can have a warm and healthy partnership, that would alleviate a lot of the stress that speaker boehner has gone through. some folks in the leadership believe now scolese can help them get more of the conservative members on board. with that being said, he beat labrador like a drum yesterday. he remains popular with many of his members. i think you'll see moving forward a gentler, warmer gop message, at least on its face, from kevin mccarthy. >> beat him like a drum.

a little music metaphor to help us head into the weekend. gentlemen, have a good one. the u.s. women's open. 11-year-old golf prodigy -- remember, she's 11. lucy li entered as the youngest ever qualifier. lucy in a patriotic outfit she said she picked out for this occasion and her signature braided pigtails. an 8 over par 78. just 11 shots behind the leader. li celebrated her opening round with an ice cream cone. >> my score, i'm happy with how i played. >> what's your plan for the rest of the day? >> eat some more ice cream. >> how is that ice cream? >> it's good. it's melting, though. bill have you seen my keys anywhere? i'll help you look. maybe you left them in the bathroom again.

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we're back now. at the white house yesterday, president obama awarded the medal of honor to 24-year-old kyle carpenter. i had the privilege of middle east -- meeting the young marine. >> kyle carpenter shouldn't be alive. not cruising down an open road. not returning to classes at the university of south carolina this fall. >> i've been given a second chance to do good things and enjoy the life, the second chance that i've been blessed with. >> he's 24 now. the marine corporal carpenter was just 21 when he earned the medal of honor. that's him in helmand province, a taliban stronghold where an enemy grenade exploded on a rooftop where he and another marine were standing guard. >> i felt like warm water was being poured all over me, which was my blood. i thought of my family and how devastated they were going to be that i was killed in afghanistan. >> carpenter smothered the blast

to protect his best friend who is still recovering from his wounds. carpenter woke up at walter reed six years later, shrapnel removed from his brain. 2 1/2 years of treatment, nearly 40 surgeries. >> you've lived your life ignoring these injuries, it seems to me. >> i don't really feel like i have any other option. >> carpenter's thoughtful and understated. the way he's now living his life is anything but. running the marine corps marathon, sky diving and inspiring others with a story of sacrifice and resilience. last summer carpenter retired from the military, never expecting he'd later hear from his former commander in chief. >> this is barack obama, how are you? >> good, sir -- for our courageous actions in afghanistan in support of "operation enduring freedom." today carpenter accepted that honor. >> if any american seeks a model of the strength and resilience that define us as a people,

including this newest 9/11 generation, i want you to consider kyle. >> an american hero for all generations. kyle carpenter really was the most humble of heroes in the time we got to spend together. he's going to head back to the university of south carolina this fall where his younger brother -- he's got two younger brothers, they are twins. one of them will join him. the other is going to the citadel. sounds like a friendly hazing plan for his younger brother as well. if you'd like to send a personal message to kyle about how he inspires you, he has what is arguably the best twitter handle you can imagine. it is chiksdigscars. he has an allegiance of followers. he found the rocker roaming around the white house. send him a note. [ female announcer ] there's a gap out there.

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on this world refugee day, the state department is calling out thailand and malaysia for their failures to meet minimum standards in their fights to end human trafficking, an issue that impacts at least 20 million people around the globe. it's all part of the department's annual assessment of 188 governments worldwide. something secretary kerry said deserves attention despite other international conflicts. >> even as we know that iraq is in trouble and we're dealing with conflicts still in afghanistan and other places, that's no reason to back off. it's no reason to turn away. there is no excuse for not pursuing all of these things. we have the ability to multitask. we have the ability to stay focused. and in the end, they are all connected because the networks that fund terrorists are the same networks that permit people to move this kind of money illicitly around the world. joining me now is u.s.

ambassador at large lewis who directs the state department's tufs monitor and combat trafficking in persons. and beatrice, executive secretary of nigeria's national agency for trafficking persons who was also honored with a hero award from secretary kerry today. nice to visit with you. congratulations. >> thank you. >> ambassador, thank you for joining us. i want to get a sense as we look at this. this is one thick text you guys have. why is it so important to rank these countries? >> one of the things we've seen is that this fight against human trafficking of modern slavery is going up against a very entrenched and very wealthy opponent. this is $150 billion u.s. market a year. the profits to the traffickers. >> $150 billion u.s. market? >> globally. so what we see is that is the equivalent of a country or an entire segment of the economy.

so there's a lot of money at stake. there's a lot of power at stake. so one of the things that we've done and we look at our own fight against trafficking as well is that we're having to confront the governments of the world so that they step up against this economic scourge. >> let me ask you about two of those. they've blacklisted thailand and malaysia here. what potential consequences did those countries face? >> over the next 90 days, the president will be looking per the trafficking law as to whether u.s. assistance, and that can be economic assistance, military assistance, foreign assistance, and all of its forms, should be restricted to the countries that are on tier three. and there are those two count countries but there are a number of others as well. how do we call out the countries that need to do more on human trafficking but at the same time support them in their fight. and there are good actors in both malaysia and thailand who need our support. >> beatrice, you are receiving

this honor on a day we're also hearing from people in africa today in nigeria specifically, that 57 of those young nigerian school girls have been reunited. have been returned to their families. but strikingly of those kidnapped girls, more than 200 of them remain missing. so what is going on at this time in that country to help find these young women, these girls? >> well, the circumstances there is an extraordinary one. you understand that the terrorists have taken over the entire area. and so it's mainly military operation at the moment. there's very little information being given. not to compromise the security of the girls. but they've been working with the families of the victims quietly to provide them with social support. and the girls who have been rescued also have access to our staff who are helping them to resettle and then to try to go through all the kind of trauma that, obviously, they have been through in the last few weeks. >> this is also, obviously, a story that's disappeared from the headlines in recent weeks given so many other crises

taking place around the world. the one thing striking to me. some of our colleagues completed analysis of reports from that region and found as they reported that at least 1,000 lives have been taken by boko haram in what they describe as the deadliest killing spree by a single terrorist group since the september 11 attacks. it's easy for this to get lost for people on this end of the world. but there, this is a genuine crisis. what are we failing to do that needs now to be done? >> the government has -- is take progactive steps now working with foreign governments around the world to try to find out what the root causes of this terrorist attacks are. we have made the military has made some major successes but don't forget, this is a symmetrical warfare. so the terrorists would always hit at the very soft end of the population. so you can't have military everywhere. so they just attack mindless,

blo bloodless -- the government has tried to engage them in terms of trying to dialogue with them to find out what's going on, and why they are doing what they are doing. obviously, they have nothing really. it's just the ideological extreme religious city which is why they are just embarking on these mindless killings. >> we appreciate what you do and appreciate you visit with us. congratulations to you. ambassador, thanks as well. >> thank you very much. coming up, andrea's interview with ken adelman, author of the new book "reagan at reykjavik." it takes it through that in october of 1986 in the midst of the cold war. it was a meeting that would change the course of history. to set the scene, here's nbc's tom brokaw with an nbc news special report from raykovits. >> i'm president reagan.

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but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. i'm leaving today for iceland. we have serious problems with the soviet positions on a great many issues and success is not guaranteed. but if mr. gorbachev comes to iceland in a truly cooperative support, i think we can make some progress. >> it was october of 1986. moments before president reagan left for an historic 48-hour sum

with mikhail gorbachev in reykjavik, ireland. it would set the stage for future talks. the two men at the height of their power end upped addressing the core issues of nuclear disarmament. what first appeared to be a diplomatic disaster turned out to lay the groundwork for a nuclear arms accord that would change the course of history. i'm joined by ken adelman, former arms controller for president reagan. he took part in that summit in iceland and wrote the new book "reagan at reykjavik: 48 hours that ended the cold war." >> when president reagan and gorbachev came out of that white house and their faces were so grim, it looked as though the whole thing had exploded. that all the promise and hope of their past meetings had just fallen apart. tell me what happened and how do you think it turned around. >> you were on the lawn, andrea. >> yeah. >> i was in the house with the president and we shared the same view that it had all absolutely

been disastrous. but then a year later, reagan's real determination and strategic plan had come about because we signed -- he signed and gorbachev signed the most sweeping arms control agreement in history. and then three years after that or four years after that, the soviet union fell. exactly on the terms that reagan had laid out. >> well, at the time, one of the things he quoted in the book, we don't know just what reagan had in mind before reykjavik but we know his mood. awfully excited. part of it was his fondness for big events. and reykjavik, despite his attempts to damp ten down, shaping up to be a very big event. he also liked negotiating. considered himself quite a master of it. he really was a good negotiator. he held out on strategic defense. he was ridiculed by many in the media. ridiculed by many so-called foreign policy experts but he was holding out for that whole card of strategic defense. and would not give it up.

>> it's amazing, andrea, when you see and you covered it and i was there, but the fact is we didn't know what was happening in the room. now we do because the documents have been opened. we have declassified russian notes and american notes of what happened. and what happened there was that gorbachev basically made concession after concession. reagan said what he wanted. he wanted the strategic defense initiative to protect the country. he also wanted the deep reductions in nuclear weapons. what's interesting when you see this 10 1/2 hours of conversation between them, is the fact that gorbachev says to him, some 11 or 12 times, mr. president, i'm gorbachev making all the concession and you're making none. you know what ronald reagan said each time? he says nothing. he sits there and thinks, i always knew i was a great negotiator. and now we know he really was. >> and he had confidence in

personal diplomacy. and you remember as well as i do, he was asked at several news conferences after brezhnev died and the soviet leaders why haven't you met with your soviet counterpart. and he said memorably at a news conference, well, they all keep dying on me. and then when, with the help, i think, importantly of nancy reagan and others, he agreed to meet with gorbachev in november of 1985 in geneva. and that was the beginning of this personal diplomacy. >> that was the beginning of the personal diplomacy. reykjavik was the real pinnacle. at reykjavik they met for 10 1/2 hours. it was like an agatha christie story. they met in an isolated place at the end of the world in an old creaky house with rain lashing on the windowsill. and the house was thought to be haunted. and the two of them over a

weekend experienced the most amazing things. and what did they experience is the terms for this deep reductions, the deep nest hiest history for nuclear weapons that's continued to this day and what neither of them could imagine, that the cold war would end within a very short time. it was amazing. the thesis of the book is that these 48 hours, reykjavik, represented the start of the end of the cold war, and the events coming out of reykjavik resulted in just that. the decline of the soviet union, the end of the soviet union and then the end of the cold war. >> ken, this is all fascinating stuff. thank you so much for bringing it all back. and it could never be more relevant than today with vladimir putin. thank you again. >> it's a great story. it's a great story. >> thanks very much for the book. and we'll be right back. naming names. the fact is, it comes standard with an engine that's been called the benchmark of its class.

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? chris cillizza back with us. martin o'malley going to iowa. ted cruz to florida. chris christie will head to the granite state. new hampshire, 2016. i guess we're kicking it off. >> it's amazing, peter. we're still several months, you know, four-ish months from the november election in 2014. but, yeah, martin o'malley is basically running for president at this point. he's term limited out as governor of maryland. he's been in iowa. he was gary hart's advance guy in iowa way back when. he knows the state well. would be a huge underdog against hillary clinton. chris christie is essentially running. he's moving around the country. just happening to stop in new hampshire. we know about florida and ted cruz. florida is a huge donor state. also an early voting state. so cruz, o'malley and rand paul especially are basically in the race and running actively full time. >> you've got five seconds. it's not politics but 48 hours

away. u.s./portugal. your winner is -- >> okay. pure patriotism. going with the u.s. but i'm worried. let's say 2-1, u.s. cristiano ronaldo will score at least one goal. >> thanks so much. that's going to do it for "andrea mitchell reports." remember to follow the show online and on facebook as well as on twitter @mitchellreports. i'm @peteralexander. ronan farrow is joining me for a look at what's up next. >> thanks. we've got a great show today. stick around, everybody. including actually secretary william haig from the uk. you'll want to see it. don't go away. was pregnant... i got more advice than i knew what to do with. what i needed was information i could trust on how to take care of me and my baby. luckily, unitedhealthcare has a simple program that helps moms stay on track with their doctors

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